Xabi Alonso to Chelsea and Pep Guardiola's last trophy at Manchester City?: Men in Blazers 05/18/26

21:40Roger Bennett:He would have had some input into that process. But it was largely out of his control. What the change of title with Alonso does, I think, is it suggests that Xabi will have much more input into that. That he will be able to say no to some players, yes to others. And maybe most importantly, he might be able to persuade Bluco to break away from this model where they will only sign younger players. Because the thing that Chelsea have been trying out for all season is experience. A bit of nous, a bit of calm, a bit of knowledge, rather than just endless sort of 23-year-olds on the pitch. and I think if Alonso has used the negotiation as it looks like he has to be able to influence those sorts of decisions that makes him more of a manager than a head coach Essentially it means he can ship out Garnaccio on day one One more detail we do need to touch upon Why not Xabi to Liverpool?

22:29Reports from the Telegraph had this story that Fenway Sports Group wanted to appoint Alonso after Jurgen Klopp but Alonso then turned down Liverpool waited an entire year for Real Madrid's job to become available That lingered with FSG, according to the report. They couldn't shake that, which feels so crazy to me. Man could have been such an instant crown prince on day one, but that's how football works. He could have been a culture of a starter, but you can't ignore the fact that he didn't come when you wanted him.

23:00Roger Bennett:I think that was probably a factor, but I'd be surprised if it was the decisive one. Alonso turning Liverpool down in the spring of 2024 kind of made sense. He was coming to the end of his first full season at Leverkusen. he had I think already said he wanted to do another that he didn't want to jump too soon he'd always been quite kind of cautious in terms of how he managed his career and the impression I got at that time I've got to say was that Liverpool understood that completely that probably did create a bit of an impression that he then waited for Real Madrid that it seemed to be that was the one he really wanted Liverpool won't have enjoyed being kind of second fiddle I get that I think it's probably a factor more important is the sense that Liverpool had that Alonso maybe wasn't an improvement on slot in terms of what their data says and just the data, I think the fact that they've made that decision does suggest that they're maybe reading the data too much and they're ignoring literally everything else about football.

23:49Roger Bennett:And the other thing, this is just a theory rather than anything kind of informed. But I wonder whether they were slightly wary of how much power Alonso might have with the crowd. The people running Liverpool behind the scenes, a lot of them kind of were uneasy with how much power centralised around Klopp in the last four or five years of him. obviously to fairly spectacular effect, Rog but that was a break with the model that FSG want at Liverpool where, to be honest, it's more of a head coach thing it's the manager's in charge of arranging the players on the pitch recruitment is done elsewhere Alonso, former fan favourite, beloved fan favourite would immediately have had a power base that would have made him quite a significant player in the dynamics behind the scenes and I wonder whether Liverpool didn't want that but I won't lie to you, Rog I'm surprised that they didn't look at him more closely and I'm disappointed.

24:41Roger Bennett:He's one of my favourite ever players, Xabi Alonso and it looks to me like this means he probably will never be Liverpool manager and that's a tough one to swallow. Give the job to Martin Skirtle and get it done now. We'll have much more Liverpool in just one moment but we need to very quickly touch one. Arsenal, who welcomed Burnley tonight in a game being held as the biggest Premier League game ever hosted at the Emirates Stadium and the final home game of this season. tickets for the game against relegated doom merchants Burnley going for kind of the English equivalent of front row at Madison Square Garden next prices brace yourself for noise theatre really I hope a recreation of the ebullience that surrounded the Champions League semi-final bring you lunch, bring you dinner I'll just say I am so excited for Arsenal fans, let me speak directly to you for one second you deserve this humanly you deserve this more than I can say drown out all the noise, focus on your own experience, what you've lived watching Arteta and this squad, almost dragged themselves out of Hades, that's what it's been like I know every single Arsenal fan I know is funnily enough, dreading this game Raw against bloody Burnley the darkness that coats joyful moments, to me, Arsenal's journey you can almost see is a perfect distillation of our kind of mind-bending world outside of football, where even lovely things feel really dark at times.

26:09But I'll just say, to overcome your past, to overcome your recent trauma, to overcome the mass catastrophizing that surrounded this and still bloody sore, I believe if you win, when you win, this deeply un-lubricated experience, which is what it's been, is going to feel, there's going to be a moment in the next seven days for Arsenal fans where it's just going to flip towards the ecstatic almost immediately and I can't wait for you.

26:37Roger Bennett:Yeah, they'll get a few minutes in two games, won't they? Depending on what happens at Bournemouth with Man City, there will be a period against Burnley where they are obviously going to win the game and they can kind of forget they've got to play another game to secure the lead title and they will be able to revel in that feeling of arrival and ascension and then the big one will be on Sunday against Crystal Palace. If Arsenal are leading, if they're two or three goals up with 20, 25, 30 minutes to play, that is when it becomes real that you are going to do this and that you are there. That after 22 years, the Premier League title is back in North London.

27:15Roger Bennett:That Mikel Arteta, after all those second places, all those fires at the training ground, all those pickpockets, that he has delivered what he said he would do. That everything's come together and the feeling when that happens will make all of the pain and the suffering and the worry and the anxiety and the angst will make it all worthwhile. We'll be able to talk about it more, I hope, but to succeed in the face of abject school is the greatest kind of success. I do admire the doom merchants on Twitter who are trying to manifest that Burnley's record against the big six in 2026 includes draws against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, they even threw Tottenham in there as still a member of the big six, just drown out the haters.

27:57Focus on your own joy. And talking of doom merchants, let's go back to Friday night. Aston Villa 4, Liverpool Football Club 2. A game that should have been a nothing burger, but ended up feeling almost like an everything. Should have been a light workout between fourth and fifth. Two teams cruising towards Champions League qualification. Villa have a Europa League final on Wednesday, front of mind. Didn't they win just once in the Premier League in the last five games? But we're still thinking about their first silverware in 30 years. That's an incredible story. Liverpool entered, just three wins in eight, sounded being booed off by the Anfield faithful roar, still very much in their ears, right?

28:34Roger Bennett:It's been a suitably dispiriting end to a deeply dispiriting campaign, Rog. And if you looked at Liverpool going into Villa Park, everything just seemed so bedraggled about Liverpool. The injuries, the players absent, the fans in a kind of state of mutiny. It's amazing to think that one year ago, Rog, they were being crowned champions. It's Tracey Chapman driving, driving in your car. Speed so fast, felt like I was drunk. Mo Salah held up his Google phone and took that photo. It felt like nothing could go wrong. But life and football are not like that. I mean, we'll break it down in its many levels.

29:09Let's start with the game itself, which was ultimately just a jubilant possession for Aston Villa, who tested quite shell-shot Mamesh Vili within 80 seconds. Oli Watkins marauded at will. Villa took the lead before half-time again for a corner. Liverpool fans, same, same, ping-pong back and forward to create space for Morgan Rodgers. Slapped archly into the far corner and then took time to Mott Rio. Mott Rio is a child. Mott Rio with the scuba celly, which only added, I think, to the pain. Liverpool, I mean, this is the season. Is it league-high 20 goals by the end of this game? They've conceded from set pieces.

29:45That inability to close the just screaming vulnerability, I think, is ultimately so damning. but just to stand me raw when it went 1-1 Virg equalising with his head what shocked me was the Liverpool fans in my life all got in touch less relief more like how are we going to crap this up how are we going to give the lead again this is Liverpool that's an Everton feeling I'll get to that in a minute the answer ultimately was by Dominic Sobersi falling over like Stevie G and gifting Oli Watkins a chance to punish but that mindset is so pervasive now it's an agony but it's also

30:20Roger Bennett:It's bred by experience, Rog, because that's what's happened throughout the season. At no point have Liverpool looked especially secure. Even in games they've won, they look like they want to give them away. And it's happened in basically every game. There's one or two exceptions, mainly in the Champions League. But generally, Liverpool do not look like they can hold a lead. They don't look like they can keep a team out. And they constantly look like they will give you chances. This was a slightly weird example because it was an actual slip from Sabah's life. It's the sort of thing that can happen occasionally.

30:49Roger Bennett:just happens to Liverpool quite a lot. Yeah, I mean, the game, Watkins got a second off corner slop. Suddenly it felt like a coronation for Aston Villa. Delirious noise, delirious celebration for fans who have known last day of the season agony. Liverpool had Mo Salah enter to no effect. We'll talk about Mo and his off the field impact in just one second. But then John McGinn, 89th minute, thunderous finish, which felt stunning. I mean, if he decapitated Liverpool, it would have probably felt less shocking. Verge got garbage time second, which only added to the surreal reality of it all that Verge has only scored one goal less than Erling Haaland in 2026.

31:31But that was it. Villa beat Liverpool for the first time in five and a half years. They've got that Europa League final in Istanbul this Wednesday. We'll break that down in European nights tomorrow. But joy for them. Amid, it's got to be said, economic instability. you know they've done this while trying to balance the books furiously for financial fair play to still soar raw and I'm using soar it's doing a lot of heavy work because you know the end of season they've almost somehow treaded water but still stayed in that top five to get back into the Champions League is an incredible achievement.

32:04Roger Bennett:It is you have to kind of remember that they're competing in the league as it is not as maybe we imagine it to be and there's an awful lot of teams with kind of 52 to 47 points it's a very balanced lead and what Villa did was gather an awful lot of points kind of December January time and they've been able to ride that out despite the fact that they have they've dipped fairly considerably the last couple of months part of that is because they've had Europe to think about as well which I think has distracted them to an extent they deserve to be in the Champions League they will be in the Champions League comfortably whether they whether it's fifth or or fourth obviously they still have to decide they do go to City on the final day and it's a remarkable achievement from Emery that twice in three years he's got them into the biggest competition in Europe after so long absent.

32:48The challenge that's ahead of them is they've got quite an old team.

32:53Roger Bennett:I think the average age of the team on Friday night was 29.8 which is substantial. It's the oldest the Villa have known for an awfully long time. They need to bring that down. Villa are coming to an end of a generation in a way that maybe not quite as jarringly as Liverpool but they do need to start thinking about what comes next I think Villa. That's the next challenge. but Emery's met all of them so far so you'd back him to do it again. They should just do a half squad swap in entirety with Chelsea and build two, solve two problems. I think Villa might well be looking at Chelsea's fourth coming exodus and thinking there's probably quite a lot of value to be had there to be honest.

33:28To Liverpool, 12th loss of the season. That's astonishing. Statistics, so dark. I mean, Twitter was made to just mourn Liverpool's almost lost season I mean, the criticisms remain the same. A defence that's constantly caught out high midfield, that can't control any phase of the game and attack, that feels like it's been reduced to essentially that man-child Rio doing things on his own. One of my Liverpool supporting friends texted me and said, there's nothing there. It's just drudgery to watch. It's as if slot finds players for self-expression. Here's the challenge rule that I think we're watching.

34:06The mood change, you said this earlier from the light of that, that sunlit Liverpool trophy celebration a year ago when everything felt just absolutely ecstatic to now the deep, deep depression that has taken a grip of the fan base. I realise, Roar, there's some Liverpool supporters, many, they might be in their early 20s, who've just not experienced this Liverpool at all. You've lived the 30 years of darkness. Maybe they saw the close call in like 13, 14 when Klopp came in to save Liverpool after that one rough year. but they've not lived this woeful Liverpool before. This also ran Liverpool before.

34:45You know, disjointed Liverpool, out of ideas Liverpool. You know, if you watched the Roy Hodgson era, if you watched the best of Brendan Rodgers, you are very, very familiar with this. There's a lot of fresh, young Liverpool fans who are like, who are we?

34:58Roger Bennett:Yeah, that's a good point, Roger. It's one thing that's never really factored in, that if you are, let's say, 18, another Liverpool fan, this is the worst you've ever seen it. Klopp had a couple of bad years in 2020-21 and 2023 when Liverpool, in fact, once missed out on qualifying for the Champions League altogether. But at least then, but both of those came after he delivered the Premier League and the Champions League. There was no question about Jurgen Klopp as a manager. It was kind of, certainly in the case of the first one, it was quite an inexplicable descent because they ran out of central defenders.

35:31Roger Bennett:And you sort of think, well, yeah, it turns out if you don't have any central defenders, it's quite hard to be a good team. this is much more kind of complex I think fans have found it a lot more difficult to deal with it feels a lot more kind of there's a lot more anger a lot more frustration there's a degree of apathy and I always think that's the most dangerous thing for any club is that a lot of people just you know obviously they lost at Villa on Friday night because Liverpool aren't very good and Villa are quite good it's not just the results the performances have been bad even when they've won games they've tended to do it and you kind of think I'm not quite sure how that's happened there have been very few saving graces for Liverpool this season.

36:08Yeah, I mean this brings us to where we are I couldn't agree with you more, it's not just the losing, it's the style the fans don't recognise themselves this is a team built on passion and belief they've almost been reduced to like this flat object which is unintriguing inconsequential, they can't, even the most die-hard fans can't summon any kind of an emotional connection to any part of it, there's one Liverpool fan who wrote to me and she said this is the most unpleasant hour I've spent watching television. I thought the worst was that episode of The Knit where John Thackeray operated on himself and then in all caps, until today.

36:43I love, like me, not hyperbolic. Slott, got to say, doesn't help himself post-game. He said, I think they are underestimating what a window can do, which is a remarkable statement. I've got to say, humanly, it's been hard to watch that man be reduced from like that stoic zen kind of winner to almost the bastard offspring of Eric Ten Hag and Greg Berhalter, just Shatador style. And then, in what almost feels like a coup rule, Mo Salah, almost out of nowhere and from the top rope, Saturday chose to, it's a remarkable social media post, a blistering social media post, scathing. I read bits of it.

37:25He said, us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful, not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That's the football I know how to play. And that's the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It can't be negotiable. And everyone that joins this club should adapt to it. Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. This was brilliantly written. It was deeply political. It was a choice to do this.

38:01It was very calculating. He really seized a moment of Slott's profound weakness, fused it a little bit, I think, with his own legacy as he leaves, channeling the Klopp spirit with some of the phrases, the heavy metal football was deeply deliberate. It kind of feels like, it does feel like a coup to me, Rourke. You saw the players who liked it, which now Liverpool fans are obsessed. Dominic Sobersly liked it, Andy Robo, Wataru Endo, Kerkes, Curtis Jones, who also added a clapping emoji, Hugo Eketike, handshake emoji, Harvey Elliott, past player icons, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson piled on.

38:37How do you understand it? Because the Liverpool superfan, John Gibbons, tweeted, this feels like when all the government ministers resign one by one. How do you process the Salah post? Was it him legacy burnishing? Or was this open rebellion?

38:52Roger Bennett:It felt more like straw settling to me, Rog, than legacy burnishing, to be perfectly honest. I think, do you know what, I'd not thought of that word, but I think coup is a great way of describing it. It did feel as though this was Salah at a very deliberate time, choosing to put out something that wasn't just, sorry to the travelling fans, we'll do our best next week. It was, this isn't how this is meant to be, this isn't what it's meant to look like, this isn't how it's meant to feel. And although he doesn't name Slott, it's very obvious he's talking about Slott. I don't know, I don't think anybody knows the full scale of the breakdown in their relationship dating back to November, I would suggest this looks like it's fractured pretty badly and probably irrevocably there's a question mark now over whether Slott plays Salah in that final game of the season against Brentford, which all of a sudden Liverpool probably need to win, because they have blown their chance of securing Champions League football and Bournemouth as we record, can still catch them Slott I think has been quite smart in the way he handled the initial Salah problem.

39:51Roger Bennett:He dropped him. He used the African Cup of Nations as a way to kind of ease the tension to take the temperature down and then just brought him back into the team and no one really noticed, to be perfectly honest. And Salah's not been a massive issue since then, despite the fact that Liverpool haven't been very good. I think he'd continue to do the same. I can't see him denying Salah his goodbye to Anfield. He may not start him. But the bigger question is, does that speak for the players? Has Salah put that out? not necessarily in consultation with his teammates but with the tacit backing that they agree with that message because to be honest I can't imagine that he hasn't I can't imagine that Salah is the only person in that dressing room thinking that stuff and I can't imagine that Salah would do that publicly if he thought his teammates would be furious with him which is what makes it so crazy I mean again I can't believe we're now reduced to talking about football by who likes it Curtis Jones also put out much shorter, but in the line statement with this, they are subtweeting Slot.

40:49They're trying to make I mean, they are making Slot's continued grip on his job, which in its own way is hard to understand. They're trying to make it utterly untenable. He's lost the fans. This is Mo proving you've lost the players. By the way, by channeling and putting into words what so many fans are feeling that's emotional, that's the brilliance of this Mo Salah moment. I don't know how he had time to write it in between all the gym uh you know the crunches that he's

41:18Roger Bennett:constantly posting but the thing is roger if this was chelsea we'd be talking about a squad that was unmanageable we'd be talking about a squad that has decided it can it can place the blame exclusively on the manager rather than kind of allowing people to look at its own defects there i think it was john gibbons as well or it might have been another of the anfield wrapped contributors who said that the first question they would ask salah in light of that post is do you think you are physically capable of playing heavy metal football because I think what we've seen of Salah this season is that he's probably not and that's also maybe true of quite a lot of the rest of the team and maybe Slott's defense would be well one you didn't mind playing this sort of football when you won the title and had a player of the year winning season last time around and two you can't play the type of football you want to play because you're physically not capable of it and I think there's some truth in that that that is it it shouldn't be the case that only slot gets blamed I think there are problems from the ownership to the football directorate to the manager to the squad the whole club and this is remarkable given how well FSU have run it in the main the whole club looks broken to me yeah I mean this is we talked about how there's three elements to a football club squad manager and front office and right now all three you seem unaligned and I think for the fans every element feels suddenly suspect but it's happened so quickly and the biblical line about how to everything there is a season I just have never seen it flip this quickly and part of it is I think the constant affirmation this is the last thing I'll say about it that slot is saying which him you know it's almost like modern political speak where the voters the fans feel one thing and the politicians almost assert their eyes are lying and a different truth exists which I think is so doubly dispiriting you know the constant affirmation added to the fact that Xabi Alonso is possibly going to do well at Chelsea which is haunting I don't know how Slott's future is tenable at all I've got to say from the outside and I do believe next week at Anfield has a chance of feeling utterly mutinous I would agree with that completely certainly if like Brentford take the lead or if Champions League football looks like it's in serious doubt I think there will be real problems I don't know what the lap of honour at the end of that game will look like.

43:36Roger Bennett:I'm not sure it'll be a particularly full stadium. The thing about his future is interesting. To an extent I'm not sure what else Liverpool can do if they don't want to sack him mid-season. People keep asking them are you in a sack slot? And all they know is that before the Brentford game they don't want to. But I'm the same as you, Roger. I don't see, to me the crucial thing is, is there a world in which this time next year we are sat here and saying Liverpool did really well to keep on a slot? you know they maybe they finished second maybe they've won a cup maybe they've had a decent run in the Champions League or the Europa League and we're saying yep do you know what there's real signs of progress here I think for that to happen so many things need to align that are so unlikely that it's essentially impossible and from that point I think there is only one decision you can make if Liverpool don't make that decision that journalistically speaking Roger that's fascinating it's absolutely fascinating the idea that they have gone against all obvious wisdom because they are so confident in their data rather than everything else we know about football.

44:38Roger Bennett:And obviously, as a fan, I'd quite like that to be the case. I'd love it if Arna Slott had a redemption arc. I just can't see it happening. God, and now there's that new footballing tradition which has just sprung up where the manager has to address the fans at the end of the last game. That is going to be harder to watch than the Eurovision Song Contest. Do the football thing. Give it to Callum McFarlane or Igor Tudor. For God's sake, the sensible thing. but from darkness to true despondency Newcastle 3 West Ham United won won't somebody think about the bubbles um you poor bedraggled hammers they had to win to prevent Spurs from the other guarantee safety with a win or really a draw on Tuesday against Chelsea but this one was over about as quickly as a Ronda Rousey Gina Carano fight um Newcastle had little to play for apart from their own sense of self um but they tore into their opponent's back five, overloaded the midfield, shell shock to creaky, tepid Hammer rear guard, who didn't help with their own self-destructive decision-making.

45:39First, Walter Marder, German Yao Ming, a gent who the commentator kept reveling in. He's not had a shot on target in his last 11 games. Really a barren agony for him. He looks miserable. He flipped the ball in, and then just four minutes and 15 seconds later, a really flowing break. Trippier, Barnes, was it Guy Maresh and Ramsey tossing that ball forward and freed Asula who's so wonderful to watch how fearless he is charged through the gut, slapped home ruthlessly charged away to put on a Michael Jackson thriller glove did a little MJ dance roar who's going to tell him?

46:14Roger Bennett:Well it's possible Rog that he's a Michael Jackson superfan who's just refusing to accept the allegations or is it maybe something to do with bubbles? Is there a bubbles joke in there that Will Asula's doing? Oh my God, that's a deep bit. That would be amazing. Are you telling me that Willis Sula is not just able to score goals for fun in the Premier League, but he's also doing comedy bits at depth of level known only to John Mulaney? That would be, it would be fitting, wouldn't it? It's a natural next step that he's doing an in-depth gag about Bubbles the Chimpanzee. I actually think he thinks Michael Jackson is just an interim manager.

46:49Roger Bennett:He just really, I really like the guy at Burnley. Maybe Willis Sula is moving to Burnley. Maybe that's his way of telling you. just so confused. They've already such a great interim manager. They've already made a biopic about his life and I am supporting that kind of redemptive story arc. Who knows? One of us is right. Probably neither of us. All I know is 26 minutes. Needs us. Nuno, quite agonised. Subbed out to Debo. Flung on Tati Castellanus. Reverted to 4-4-2, but it was too late. Did get a grip on midfield. Somerville, excellent flickering into life. They tried to go for it. They had no choice.

47:23Instead, they self-destructed again. Somehow, they turned a throw in at midfield into a three-on-two break. Ursula again. They did have the solace. This is so cruel, Roar. They had the solace of essentially a goal-of-the-season contender from Tata, who kind of pounced on a long clearance. And from way downtown, if you've not seen this goal, find it. The way he arced his body to get the angle right, just beautifully, ultimately irrelevantly raw it's a proof that football football even in darkness can be like a tiny little rail like the fan the West Ham fans they showed they were like that that woman drinking kombucha for the first

47:59Roger Bennett:time they were in agony but they're also like the amazing goal that is completely irrelevant is my favorite genre of goal classic from this season Rog Richarlison in the North London derby uh the best I've ever seen might well have been Christian Benteke for Liverpool in a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford it was the one came after the three and he saw this incredible scissor kick and nobody celebrated because everyone was really annoyed but that Tassi Tassi Janos goal did provide one of my favorite moments of the season Rog because if you watch the replay once you've watched the amazing goal watch the slow-mo and there are people at St James's Park wearing black and white shirts applauding and I love that when that happens because you should your natural reaction as someone who likes football when you see that goal should be to say that's amazing and to clap whoever does it whatever color they're wearing and I thought there was a little bit of beauty there Rog it touched me.

48:50I mean there was shots of the West Ham fans laughing as well amidst the tears in that second it was like the end of the great escape that classic war movie where you know they'd failed in their escape but they're having a cigarette and they just turned to each other and just said you know in a funny way I've never been happier of course seconds later they They were mowed down by German machine guns. But that's, you know, that's what relegation is all about. Spurs fans, God bless you watching it. You must have been dancing. 17th again. Ole, ole. Tuesday at Chelsea, two points clear. Is it 13 goals better off?

49:27Essentially, the Hammers can be relegated if Spurs win or effectively because of the goal difference. A draw will do it. Raw, Spurs just need essentially one point from two games against Chelsea and Everton. West Ham's only hope of them is losing both and then beating Leeds at home. Surely, even Spurs can't F this one up, can they? Well, then, you've got to bear in mind, Rog,

49:49Roger Bennett:that Chelsea haven't won in six, Everton haven't won in six, and this is Dr Tottenham. God bless you, Spurs. You're charging to Champions League places next season. It's going to feel all the sweeter. Very quickly on West Ham, Nuno's side afterwards, it was a bad performance and a bad day. It's actually worse than that. on the brink of championship football for the first time in 15 years. And my God, the financial impact of that is going to be enormous. A lot of the players didn't have relegation clauses in their contract. The club didn't think it would happen to them. Quickly, Roar, whose fault is this?

50:21So much leveled at the board, the ownership, the management's been terrible. And the David Sullivan, the legendary pornographer turned football club owner. I loved it when an Italian owner once referred to him and his late partner, of David Gold as the Dildo brothers. They hire managers, they fire managers, the squad build has been confused, targeted random kind of misfit players that wash up at West Ham. Above all that disastrous move from Upton Park, which was just a bare pit of football to the London Stadium, which is not and never was a football ground, which kind of took away everything, the authenticity, the vibe, the just a vociferous authenticity, that made that club so special.

51:06I do feel for the fans, Roar, but West Ham are very much across the board a cautionary tale room.

51:11Roger Bennett:Yeah, I mean, the stadium plays a massive role. As you say, Upton Park was never a place you went to and got an easy ride. That was one of West Ham's superpowers. In days before, they were quite as well off as they are now. They've never really made a go of the London Stadium. It is soulless. It doesn't feel like it belongs to them. It rarely has any atmosphere to speak of. and that has been a factor but I think ultimately the thing that has done for West Ham is that they are the last kind of great bastion of good old-fashioned incompetence that is what has done for West Ham they are run like football clubs used to be run they they have a recruitment strategy that makes no sense it's totally reactive depending on who's kind of available what they can get they appoint managers without any kind of long-term thread they were really late to adopt even like a basic sporting director model and when they did he fell out with the manager the whole thing has been held together with glue and sticking tape for years and years and years off the field if you look through the premier league now the vast majority of teams i'm going to say maybe all teams now that manchester united have kind of pulled their fingers out they have a kind of relatively sophisticated off-pick strategy they understand kind of what they want to be doing we're just about to talk about knotty and forest rule apart from maybe that one the the vast majority let's stick with the vast majority Rog the vast majority of Premier League clubs do have a a degree of sophistication whether it's in terms of kind of how they work with data or having a profile of player they want to sign or in some cases to be honest they've just got loads of money they've got so much money that they can make these mistakes that none of those things are true of West Ham they are in the class of club that's not rich enough to be stupid and the problem is they they have not been able to to modernize to to become a kind of 21st century Premier League club the league has overtaken them and what happens in that situation is that eventually you get spat out when there's no place for incompetence left in English football where football's gone that really is this is the moment I'm calling it I'm talking about clubs that do it their way Manchester United 3 Nottingham Forest 2 one club had Champions League confirmed Forest had safety confirmed after a run of 8 unbeaten in the league Vito Pereira God bless the ferryman they told you not to worry about reportedly on the precipice of getting a permanent deal.

53:28This game really more about the subplots. United's last home game of an ultimately deeply joyful campaign. Casemiro's final home game in that United midfield. The Tifo I thought was really beautiful in the Stratford end. Huge picture of Casemiro patting the badge with Ate Amorte Till the Death written in Portuguese across it. But really, just a footballer going out on his own terms, in his own style. I've got to say the football in this one was much more entertaining than the quite muted stakes would have it. Luke Shaw, God bless. A man who's quietly, stealthily had an incredible season. The grass cutter where professional footballers just put their foot through it in the most distinctive way we mere mortals can't do.

54:12Murato, pull one back, exquisite Elliot Anderson strength. And then an incredible cross off a short corner routine. United went back in front Cunha, cleaning up some slop after Mbumo and his slight handsiness at his shot block. But the moment of the game, in the 76th minute, Bruno Fernandes buzzed down the right-hand side, drove on hard and low across the box, and Mbumo archly steered it home. It was Fernandes' 20th assist of the season, tying all-time Premier League record set by two legends, Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. What I loved about the moment, Ro, all of the United players in that moment even the goalkeeper Lomans ran out to celebrate with him two of them tried to push Bruno out to have a solo bow in front of the Stretford end this man having the season of his life age 31 which is incredible but he resisted that urge he stayed in that team huddle maybe saving the bow for when he breaks a record next week against Brighton maybe I'm reading too much into it but it really did for me kind of like reinforce that sense of true collective spirit which which has been um burnished by Carrick in this uplifting spell in charge yeah I mean Bruno more than anybody

55:26Roger Bennett:probably deserves a solo bow doesn't he he has not just this season but over the last four or five he's been the player that's kept Manchester United relevant you know this hasn't been a glorious period by Manchester United standards by any stretch of the imagination they have bounced from disappointment to despair to kind of disdain or whatever all the d's but all the d's but But through all of it, the one player who's kind of lifted them, who's given them some sort of hope, who has, to be honest, kept them kind of in touch with the elite to the extent that if they did it right this summer, they could be in the title race next season.

55:58Roger Bennett:They could do well in the Champions League. Is Bruno. He's carried the club sometimes on his own through probably the darkest bit of its modern history. And he deserves huge credit for that. The idea of Manchester United without Bruno Fernandes in the last five years is basically unthinkable. He came on a couple of weeks ago. I was actually blown away by him, his emotional intelligence, his ability to articulate tactics in a profound but really accessible way. Everyone around the club thinks he will be a great manager in years to come. Maybe the manager United will need when he is ready, but it does bring us to another inspirational human being.

56:38I'll say watching Michael Carrick address the Stratford end after the game multiple reports saying I mean it's very clear that the club have agreed to do a deal with Michael Carrick the interim will become permanent, 11 wins 3 losses 2 draws in the 44 year old 16 games in charge, 3rd place finish after that 15 place darkness last season a return to the Champions he confirmed, look on one level Carrick still has to prove that he can cope with European football and a league challenge at the same time. But let's put that aside for one second because we've watched Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left with his, you know, his dynastic bona fide.

57:21He's watched him hire massive coaches, legends, your hot young next big things, your former United icons, you know, Scottish coach on the rise akin to the Fergie, Echo himself. Ultimately, at the end, Carrick is distinctive. He's tactically astute, if not like profoundly innovative. He was a winner as a player at United so he carries that. But above all, listening to him speak to the fans who are humble, modest and unassuming, that's what's got them to hit.

57:52Roger Bennett:Do you know what? The best thing about Carrick is the feeling he's restored at Old Trafford. United feels like a club that's at one with itself for the first time in like 13 years. There's no kind of sense of maybe we should be doing this or we're not doing this well enough. it feels like a club that is all on the same page that's all singing the same song and that's really important in management that yet like you say carrick isn't a tactical visionary like guadiola he's not got a distinctive michael carrick style of football there's no carrick ball there's no carrickismo but he's reintroduced to united a style of play that the club recognize one that the fans can get on board with he speaks to the fans in a way that they appreciate and understand he clearly has the loyalty of the players that stuff is more important than whether you've got a great tactical system whether you're absolutely adamant that three four two one just for example is is the best system to play managers are there to an extent to create a feeling around a club and characters done that this season as well as anybody if not better and it's that that will carry united through you're right next season will be more of a challenge because of european football but i think everyone will be on board with that challenge even if there are rough moments because of what Eric has done and because of how he's made them feel.

59:05He has. There is silence, the madness, just the soap opera sideshow, even in good times in recent years. There's always been players briefing the press. All of that has been silence and it's remarkable to watch a happy Old Trafford. My God, United fans, it's strange to say this. From an Everton fan, you deserve it. In other games, Brentford 2, Crystal Palace 2, clash between two technical area PhDs. The departing Olivia Glasner has Palace in the Europa Conference League final in nine days' time. Up the Palace and mean it. In the other corner, Keith Andrews. The Irishman Scorsese should have made that film about.

59:45Premier League manager of the season, nominee first ever senior management job. He's got the Bs on the precipice of their first ever European qualification. The game ultimately quite fiery. Two goals from Attara, dragging European curious Brentford back into the game twice. Sar won and took a penalty coolly. And then your favourite footballer's favourite footballer, Adam Wharton put Palace 2-1 ahead. Kid aged 22, picked up the ball outside the area, shot to a thicket of legs and threw Kelleher. Unbelievably, his first ever Palace goal in 94 appearances. He capped it off with a screamer of a backflip that he's clearly been working on for at least 94 games, stuck the landing too.

1:00:28the interview we did with Adam Wharton earlier in the season it's in the show notes, what a humble really thoughtful articulate human being he is and this must have been a beautiful memory for him and for his mother, the Palace fans saw her in the crowd and started to chant for Adam Wharton's mum which was also magnificent, but the final whistle what struck me here was the way the Brentford players just dropped to the ground in agony, just a real sense of deflation despite the fat rule that they they had expectations for this season. So many naysayers. They were going to get relegated. They are on the cusp of Europe.

1:01:04I guess partially they were on the cusp of Europe last year and didn't make it. Also the friction, the frustration that they've won once since February, but they remain eighth. Face Liverpool next weekend at Anfield. That European spot is so bloody close. And don't you think like if you had offered them this at the beginning of the season, they would have bitten your arm off for it?

1:01:25Roger Bennett:Yeah, absolutely. but I think when you get close to it you start to realise all the other things you could achieve and because of that weird thing where Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League, sixth place gets Champions League, I guess Brentford will feel as though they have fallen short that if they just managed to find a little bit more form in the last couple of months, they could have done something that was truly unthinkable but as you say, they'll go to Anfield next week with a hope of finishing in a Europa League slot against a team that are kind of devoid of confidence and really mentally fragile, so they may well yet get it.

1:01:56Jordan Henderson and Kelleher, revenge game loading, that's powerful. By the way, you've just framed it for me, it is the fact that Champions League money would be so profoundly transformative for them about what's possible, but my God, Keith Andrews, Manager of the Year for me, hands down, it's not even close. Wolves won, Fulham won, Wolves not dead yet! Okay, they are. 18-year-old star in the making, Mane, an incredible slap home, then giveth away a penalty, young Mane. And with Raul Jimenez on the bench, upstep what? Anthony Robinson. Honestly, finishing like David Robinson. Best scout American in the league.

1:02:34First ever league goal for Anthony, calm as you like. At Hendog89 on our Instagram wrote, Anthony Robinson, more goals than Christian Pulisic in 2026. Just breaks my brain. Still a lot of 2026 to come at Hendog, yeah? Let's keep telling ourselves that. Leeds won Brighton nil. A really impressive win. Leeds nothing to play for but battled in the, I guess in the spirit of celebration and communion with their fans. Against Brighton, they're hungry for Europe. They have now had a high chance of Champions League qualification. But Leeds were so resilient, they hustled. So they got that 95th minute winner for the quite magically resurrected Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

1:03:1314 goals on the season. Shirt off after this one. Manu needs to be loved and has shined again. It's humanly remarkable. to watch. Leeds, remember, deep in the relegation zone at the start of April, 14 points won from their last six games though. They're now in touching distance of a top half of the table finish and dreaming on. Farker, hinted in his quite beautiful post-game speech, now become, as I said, a standard football thing. Roy, you talked about transfers in the summer to come. It could be Leeds challenging for Europe next season.

1:03:46Roger Bennett:Yeah, but if you look at the teams that are kind of up there now, so it's obviously UBs, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton Fulham and Everton were to an extent as well before the weekend there's no reason why Leeds would look at any of those teams and think we can't do that too they're not as innovative in terms of pioneering data as Brentford and Brighton but they do have the expertise of the 49ers group behind them, they will have money it's a big city club Leeds' natural next step is to think not Champions League but to maybe think a decent season, a fair wind could they get in the conference lead it's not impossible Why never us Which brings us to the darkness On the edge of town It was Everton 1 Sunderland 3 Everton Gonna Everton Europe was beckoning I remember when we played Chelsea Beat them 3-0 We were so close Raw But here Our players What do they say in the NBA?

1:04:43It's like our players are in Cancun Our players are in Cabo They're on the beach They just lacked intensity Yeah we took the lead through beautiful cult hero and they're making Merlin roll best role since baking egg and cheese but it you knew in the moment and anyone that was in discord with me the men in blazers discord knew um you know what was going to be for a second roar we were eighth um we were in europe um we were we were close um but the feeling when we scored was and i said this um on the goal caller, God, we've suddenly had something precious to lose and we would, narrator's voice, lose it.

1:05:20Because holding on to Leeds has just been an agony for Everton. Disastrous, honestly. And Sunderland, God bless them, have gained 19 points. It would be 22. A league best by the end of this one from losing positions. But I wrote in Discord, this game has Everton drop deeper and deeper until Sunderland's score written all over it. And so it came to be, we kept doing our missionary position football Sunderland cut through us on repeat three times um and I realized raw I watched so much Everton you just know what's going to happen um you've seen the movie before again and again and again the darkness can be sensed but it can never be prevented yeah it is but it seemed like

1:06:03Roger Bennett:such a massive wasted opportunity as you say you know Sunderland aren't aren't really playing for anything they were coming from further back than Everton were in terms of the race for Europe admittedly not by much but it seems such an anticlimactic way to end the season given that this has basically been quite a positive season for Everton to then blow it in your final home game like that against the side that should also have been in Cabo is is unfortunate yeah I mean I'll give you the big picture in one moment but talking about pictures I did send you one of my kids I got a text after the game from my second son Bear which said I hate you dad we've led four times in the last three games and we've gotten one point from those games.

1:06:45Why? The photo I sent of you is at the final whistle. I've watched again my two oldest boys. They were on the couch. A bear at his Everton shirt pulled up over his own head in just anguish and agony. My oldest, Samson, was just crushing his face into a pillow face down. And I just felt for them. I also felt deeply proud of them. but I do know I've done a terrible, terrible, terrible thing I've handed on

1:07:13Roger Bennett:But at some point, Rog, it'll come right surely, surely it'll come right at some point and I'll be thankful for all these hard moments like we say with Arsenal, you know, it's the lows that make the highs worthwhile I don't know if I'm going to be alive now to see the day roar, I really mean it big picture, just to cap this I will say end of the first ever Hill Dickinson season God, it ended with boos at the final whistle respect to Sunderland who've been so bloody resilient you nailed it, big picture Everton, again if you offered me this mid-table to survive any kind of relegation dalliance with this deeply inherently limited squad it's what I'm telling myself, we have no fullbacks we have no real possible strikers it's an amazing achievement, other teams knew how limited we were but we made something out of this, we survived but at the same time to beat Chelsea and then not win again in the next six games.

1:08:08It's that agony of all those renewed passports sent into the passport office after that win, and that they'll go unused.

1:08:15Roger Bennett:But at least the passport office is in Liverpool, so it's nice and convenient. I think the question now for Everton is the summer. There has to be, from the Friedkins, from Moyes, there has to be a little bit of a hint of ambition now. As you say, it was a patchwork squad. It was obviously imbalanced. You looked at Everton's squad, even at the start of the season, and you could tell that it was weaker than Brighton, say, or weaker than Bournemouth, what's important now, now that they've managed to avoid relegation, which given what happened last season is an achievement, Rog. Amazing. I'll stand by that till my dying day.

1:08:48Roger Bennett:They now need to say, actually, you know what, you can have some reason to hope, something to believe in, and that means going and spending a bit of money, reshaping the squad so it's got not just the holes filled, but it's got players you want to watch. Yeah, it feels like yesterday I was on the stage pre-season with Everton Football Club. I think two days after Everton had signed Tiano Barry for 27 million. And, you know, I was trying to do vibes with David Moyes' positive crap. And I said, oh, tell us about Tiano Barry. You've just signed him. He's going to be our new striker. And David Moyes' face of thunder just let into the microphone and goes, it's 27 million dollars.

1:09:23You get nothing for 27 million dollars for striker nowadays. And I just felt so deflated in that moment. I just want to say, David Moyes, you were right. And talking of Everton, I want to raise my third first Michelob Ultra of the day to Seamus Coleman, who's announced his retirement for the game. The man who signed for Everton famously for 60 grand from Sligo Rovers in 2009, 17 seasons, 433 matches later. A gentleman who's defined himself as the rare footballer who for real loves his club as much as the fans love the club. He feels like a footballer from an older, kind of more loyal, nostalgic era.

1:10:03He's carried this through calmly, a time of total chaos when it felt like all was lost, has retained a sense of being the club's purveyor of values. You know, spend time around Everton Football Club. There's two remarkable things to watch. The first is watching young players around Sheamus. He almost goes out of his way to make sure they understand the standards of the club and the values of the club. He's the one passing on the story. But also how even the veterans pay Seamus Coleman total respect. I mean, this is a man who's seen fire. He's seen rain. He's seen a lot of David Moyes. But his competitive spirit is always utterly burned with the heat of a thousand suns.

1:10:46And he leaves as one of those rare human beings that define the club they play for. In a similar way as like Spike Lee kind of represents the New York Knicks Prince when you think of Minneapolis. this. When you think of Springsteen in New Jersey, that is what Seamus Coleman is to modern Everton football club. And I just thank you, farewell and Godspeed to really a man who's the forever captain.

1:11:09Roger Bennett:That must be the first time Seamus Coleman's ever been compared to Prince. They're very similar characters. I'd like to know on a personal level if that's true. I suspect it's not. It's a real shame, Coleman, because he has been kind of a throwback to something that doesn't happen anymore A player, as you say, plucked from total obscurity for a pittance, really. Even in 2009,£60 ,000 wasn't a lot of money to spend on a footballer. And he's been a stalwart, a mainstay, not just for Everton, but for the Premier League. He has been, he has endured Seamus Coleman. And that is a remarkable characteristic.

1:11:44Roger Bennett:And the lead will be a worse place without him. It's the greatest value to endure. Amen. Talking about enduring before we take your letter, we've got to quickly go north of the wall to Scotland this weekend. hearts, valiant hearts Tony Bloom, the bright and brilliant of the bottles hearts last game of the season trying to become the first team out of those giant Celtic and Rangers to win the Scottish title in 40 long years which is kind of in American sports as well like the Tennessee Volunteers winning the SEC I think, all they had to do I say all, they had to avoid defeat against Celtic at Celtic in that cauldron of a stadium they opened the scoring It felt like it could be one of the greatest moments in Scottish history since Bannockburn, or at least the cloning of Molly the Sheep.

1:12:34And then Celtic got the battle fever on. It's hard for me to say this. They scored three times. It was so unbelievably hard to watch. It really, really was. Harder still to watch the Hearts players get off the bus back in Edinburgh and meet their fans after the game. Grown men, grown professionals, hardened professionals, sobbing, many of them, like kids. raw I mean this is an agony an agony 226 days I think heart spent at the top of the table Celtic just won but it was a one that that counted Celtic had a terrible season still won fifth straight title Scottish record 56 title it was human heartbreak levels even football does not often conjure you were there tell us how you experienced it it was it was devastating Rog from a from a

1:13:19Roger Bennett:human perspective just because as you say until the 88th minute of the last game hearts were top of the table and had essentially been top all season they they went I think officially top in September but the only reason they weren't before that was because everyone played three games and goal difference was you know was still important they played the first half expertly they shut Celtic down Celtic played very poorly and then the longest second half I can remember where it felt as though hearts were inching second by second towards it and even as Celtic started to gather force as they started to kind of really turn the screw Kelechi and Ian actually hit the post there was a follow-up the goalkeeper made a couple of great saves and he thought okay actually maybe the sun is shining on hearts and then Dyson Maida scores the goal that breaks the resistance to make 2-1.

1:14:11Roger Bennett:Hearts push forward, desperate to try and get anything, any chance at all, and get picked off. The goalkeeper forward for a set piece, and Callum Osmond, who had not played for months, races down the pitch. The goal at his mercy, two Celtic players at either side, this sort of attacking phalanx, like something like the Mighty Ducks. And Celtic parts, the stands just start to empty. The fans rush onto the pitch. This absolute jubilation contrasted with the hearts, the desolation of hearts. you then get a few minutes of genuine ugliness where Celtic fans are confronting Hearts players, not just goading them, but kind of assaulting them according to Hearts' statement verbally and physically.

1:14:50Roger Bennett:And it was hard to watch it and not think this is absolutely not what Hearts deserved. What Hearts deserved, even in defeat, was to be applauded off the pitch at Celtic Park. Because ultimately, and I think this is the bit that stayed with me, the reason it felt that good for Celtic to win is because Hearts had pushed them so hard there should to some extent and I know that Scottish football is a deeply tribal and occasionally quite toxic place but there should be a degree of gratitude because ultimately Celtic had got bored with winning Ken Early's written in the Irish Times today that that it had stopped meaning anything for Celtic to win the title it really meant something to them on Saturday and that is because of hearts the fact that it ended with hearts as you say kind of having to rush off the pitch the game the final whistle not blowing the referee just sort of said oh this game's finished by the way um and then not reappearing they got straight on the bus in their kit which i've never seen before it's like kids getting off it's still in their kit when they got home and that was officially because they didn't feel safe at the stadium which i understand and is a terrible shame a genuine scandal but i think partly it was that they couldn't bear to be at the sight of their disappointment.

1:15:57Roger Bennett:It was devastating. Did you feel it? You're a hardened hack. Oh, I've never been that stressed at a football match, Rog, ever. Even the closest that you could come is the 2022 World Cup final. I realise this is a real conversation of privilege. But that was a three-all World Cup final that went to penalties and you're on deadline. And you're like, yeah, this is pretty bad. And this is Scotland. that was a dream compared to Celtic Hearts because I never thought I think I said this last week I never thought I'd see anyone win the title who wasn't the old firm and now for the first time in 40 years it feels possible and I think Hearts will get over the line eventually it may not be next season it might take them a long time to recover from what they've just been through but with Tony Bloom with the recruitment model from Jamestown they are a genuine threat to the old firm Martin O 'Neill the Celtic manager said that but to be sat there thinking if they can hold out for four or five more minutes, they make history.

1:16:57Roger Bennett:That was the most stressful kind of, it felt like so much was on the line there that it was hard not to feel just incredibly tense. And it ends in darkness. You know, darkness, they felt once before, this is the double agony, the broken heart like 1985, when again they lost their bold title bid on the last day. I could not agree with you more. Hearts have still achieved so much. This pain is going to take weeks to, you know, it's the kind of thing you do not move on from. But that audacity is something you can tap into. And the hearts have shone. They are the reason that a global spotlight was shone on Scottish football, which is so hard to do.

1:17:36They've proven, too, that we've a really intelligent squad, Bill, with really brilliant management, mostly with the same word you used before, the endurance, the resilience. You know, everything is possible. I hope they can heal reload, go again God, like a Scottish Arsenal I'd say sports can be so very cruel and young children watching this, I'd just say part of it, I thought at the end which is more about me than anything Hart's mistake was to dream rule if you don't dream if you have no ambition in your life you can never have your heart's broken

1:18:14Roger Bennett:Just don't try Rog, just don't try you never get hurt stop trying kids I saw a tweet I think that the squad from 1986 when they lost the title on the final day those players are still really famous they are kind of hearts legends and the same will be true of this squad and this was only ever meant to be the first season Tony Bloom isn't in it for a one season shot he has said he thinks they can break the old firm in 10 years they came within 8 minutes including injury time of doing it the first time of asking I think there's a decent rule don't bet against Tony Bloom. Okay. It's time for a letter from our mailbag.

1:18:54It's a heavy letter. It's a beautiful letter. It's humanly deep. But I just want to put that out into the world because it is a mood change from an incredible GFOP who our hearts go out to today. Kevin Brannigan in Oregon. Roar, do the honours.

1:19:10Roger Bennett:I'm a long-time listener of your show. As many of your listeners do, I have a deep love of football. I have a special place in my heart for Liverpool Football Club, so much so that my wife and I bought a Liverpool onesie to be the outfit that our first-born child would wear home from hospital after his birth last week. Devastatingly, and through no one's fault, our son's heart stopped beating shortly before he could be born. My wife delivered our son, Calvin, two days later, stillborn. Although the professionalism of the medical staff and support of our friends and family has been extraordinary, the pain my wife and I are going through is excruciating.

1:19:41Roger Bennett:It's not just the pain of losing a child, but the loss of everything that could have and should have come ahead in our lives. You both talk frequently about how meaningful football has been and the connections you've made with your parents and children. To not have the opportunity to share football experiences and memories with my son, to not be able to see the exhilaration of last-minute Liverpool winner on his face, is more than I can bear to think about. I have several reasons I felt like I needed to write in. Partly the therapy of writing these words out and wanting people to know my son Calvin existed, but also to encourage listeners to make a concerted effort to make memories with loved ones while they can.

1:20:13Roger Bennett:I'll never get the chance to share the joy or heartbreak football can provide with my son Calvin, but I will always think of him as football continues to be part of my life. Thank you for helping to make football the most important, least important thing. Thank you for the work you do and entertainment you provide. It's much appreciated right now.

1:20:33Kevin, we can't imagine what you and your wife are going through right now. I just want to thank you for taking the time to write to us in such a moment of challenge, such a beautifully powerful letter, which is a reminder, as you say, of what Jurgen Klopp used to reinforce, that football is the most important, least important thing, puts everything into perspective, the letter up.

1:20:57Roger Bennett:yeah it's something it's a pain that you can't imagine and it's not something i've i've been through so i wouldn't dare to kind of guess at how it feels and the devastation you feel but the one thing i will say is that my experience of grief is that football is a is a incredibly useful thing even in those dark moments that even if it can give you a minute of relief from the pain you're going through it does have that power and i think yeah it is that that clop quote is which is not a clop quote is that a million people have said that and it's absolutely true the reason people keep keep mimicking it is it's absolutely true um but my main reaction is yeah it the the pain that kevin and his partner going through is is unimaginable and i just wish them all the best i i have had a family member uh who had something agonizingly similar happen to that kevin um i'd say her daughter uh arella uh who also didn't make out the womb um we keep her memory alive i think what you're going through in in these moments of challenge which are sadly so common it happens with so many people but people don't talk about it and i really do admire your um bravery uh so much in talking about it um and your son calvin whose memory will always be with you always always always and everyone reacts to these situations differently around you so all I can say is that we're with you and your family in great moments and in dark ones as the pain comes no doubt in waves, be in touch with us, with anything know that Kelvin's memory will stay with us now that you have shared it and we dedicate this show to Kelvin Brannigan and to Better Days Ahead and for the perspective that you give about ultimately everything we talked about for the past hour and a half is so deeply insignificant.

1:22:46Big, big love. And to making memories together, as you say, well, we can, which we're going to do. This week, we're off to Dallas to make memories with you, GFOPs in the great state of Texas. Come be with us. A couple of tickets left this Wednesday, May 20th. We're coming to the Longhorn Ballroom. We've got some incredible memory-making guests. I'm going to be with Emmett Smith, which is the honor. really of this year for me, DeMarcus Ware, and a really fascinating human being, former MLS first round pick, current Cowboys star, kicker, Brandon Aubrey. Come be with us. Come make memories. Tickets are linked in the show notes below.

1:23:30Want to give huge thanks to Bank of America, official Bank of US Soccer, and the FIFA World Cup 2026 for supporting the Men in Blazers media network. Discover what's possible in sports and in life. what would you like the power to date? Raw, where are you off to this week?

1:23:46Roger Bennett:That depends a little bit on Spygate, Rog, because I'm meant to be at the playoff final, but we don't know if it's going to happen. So I might be at Wembley. I might not. It's very hard to tell. Football Raw, I've got to say, just when I think it's become as insane as it is possible, it keeps coughing up new angles that genuinely blow my mind. Yeah, it feels like they've got a script writer. It's like just an alien soap that's got a script writer and who just keeps introducing like aliens. Do you know what I mean? I don't know, man. It works for me. Let's have a spaceship. It works for me. Well, thank you, beautiful human being.

1:24:19Never take a moment of listening to you for granted. To Calvin Banigan's memory, let's not take a second of watching football together for granted. Courage.